Outside Influences: Everyone always has something going on outside of school. My life outside of school sometimes made it challenging to do all my homework, but it was definitely possible getting it done even if it was at 1 a.m. Growing up my mom taught me to get homework done as soon as I got home from school so I always had that mentality unless I was busy. During the winter I was involved in Girls' Show which took up a lot of my time, but it was the girls I met that helped me with my academic success. After practice we would go to someone's house and get our homework done. If one of us had a test to study for then the rest of us would help by quizzing each other. Grades were very important to my friends and I, plus we needed good grades to continue to play sports as well as for colleges. My mom has been a high school English teacher for over 30 years. She has contributed greatly to my academic success. She is the main reason why I chose secondary education as my major. She played a huge role in who I am today and why I am the way I am. My mom taught me to always ask questions if I did not understand something which is how I managed to get good grades. My mom would help me study when I was younger to get me into the habit of studying because she knew it was an important skill I needed to have to succeed in college. My brothers also helped with my academic success. As math got more challenging my brother Billy would help me understand the material that my mom could no longer help me with since it was not her forte. I remember one night in particular, it was a little after midnight and I was on my couch in my living room studying for a math midterm. I was getting extremely frustrated, but I did not understand logs and natural logs and started crying. (which happens when I get really stressed out) My mom told me to relax and that everything was going to be ok. Even though she could not help me study she was there for me. She is truly my sanity. She told me to go to bed and in the morning everything would be better and of course she was right. I am beyond thankful for her and all that she did for me to help me succeed and still does for me today. There have been many nights like that where she would just take me out for ice cream to try to get my mind off of it for a while and then later on I would come back to it when I was calm. My mom is truly my best friend and I am so happy that she has been my biggest supporter since day one. My parents are divorced and I have a half sister that you will never hear me talk about. She did not care about school and she messed up in life. Seeing where she ended up in life has also motivated me to work hard in school and to not end up like her. She taught me to surround myself with good people and to not let the craziness of high school change who I am just like it changed her. I barely talk to her, but once in a while I get a text message reminding me of how important school is and to not get caught up in the wrong crowd like her. My mom and grandmother are both very intelligent women. They both received good grades and that is what really motivated me to do well in school. I wanted to be just like the two strongest, most independent people in my life. I knew if I did not do something to my fullest potential they would be disappointed in me so I just did what I had to do. My grandmother was also a high school English teacher. My mom was admired by her students. Whenever I was in public with her either a current or former student would stop her and say hi. They would also tell me how much they loved my mom and how great of teacher she was. That is when I really knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be admired just like my mom was. My mom retired as of this year and when she left students and faculty cried because she has touched the lives of many. She not only taught, she taught with passion because she loved what she did. She is my inspiration and motivation to be the best teacher I can be.
Everyone always has something going on outside of school. My life outside of school sometimes made it challenging to do all my homework, but it was definitely possible getting it done even if it was at 1 a.m. Growing up my mom taught me to get homework done as soon as I got home from school so I always had that mentality unless I was busy. During the winter I was involved in Girls' Show which took up a lot of my time, but it was the girls I met that helped me with my academic success. After practice we would go to someone's house and get our homework done. If one of us had a test to study for then the rest of us would help by quizzing each other. Grades were very important to my friends and I, plus we needed good grades to continue to play sports as well as for colleges. My mom has been a high school English teacher for over 30 years. She has contributed greatly to my academic success. She is the main reason why I chose secondary education as my major. She played a huge role in who I am today and why I am the way I am. My mom taught me to always ask questions if I did not understand something which is how I managed to get good grades. My mom would help me study when I was younger to get me into the habit of studying because she knew it was an important skill I needed to have to succeed in college. My brothers also helped with my academic success. As math got more challenging my brother Billy would help me understand the material that my mom could no longer help me with since it was not her forte.
I remember one night in particular, it was a little after midnight and I was on my couch in my living room studying for a math midterm. I was getting extremely frustrated, but I did not understand logs and natural logs and started crying. (which happens when I get really stressed out) My mom told me to relax and that everything was going to be ok. Even though she could not help me study she was there for me. She is truly my sanity. She told me to go to bed and in the morning everything would be better and of course she was right. I am beyond thankful for her and all that she did for me to help me succeed and still does for me today. There have been many nights like that where she would just take me out for ice cream to try to get my mind off of it for a while and then later on I would come back to it when I was calm. My mom is truly my best friend and I am so happy that she has been my biggest supporter since day one.
My parents are divorced and I have a half sister that you will never hear me talk about. She did not care about school and she messed up in life. Seeing where she ended up in life has also motivated me to work hard in school and to not end up like her. She taught me to surround myself with good people and to not let the craziness of high school change who I am just like it changed her. I barely talk to her, but once in a while I get a text message reminding me of how important school is and to not get caught up in the wrong crowd like her.
My mom and grandmother are both very intelligent women. They both received good grades and that is what really motivated me to do well in school. I wanted to be just like the two strongest, most independent people in my life. I knew if I did not do something to my fullest potential they would be disappointed in me so I just did what I had to do. My grandmother was also a high school English teacher. My mom was admired by her students. Whenever I was in public with her either a current or former student would stop her and say hi. They would also tell me how much they loved my mom and how great of teacher she was. That is when I really knew I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to be admired just like my mom was. My mom retired as of this year and when she left students and faculty cried because she has touched the lives of many. She not only taught, she taught with passion because she loved what she did. She is my inspiration and motivation to be the best teacher I can be.